


Two Marks, One Destination

by camichats



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Marauders' Era, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-09-07 23:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8820463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: When James was eleven, he received two soulmarks: Canis Major and a set of muddy pawprints.





	

**Author's Note:**

> (reposting from when this work was deleted)

When James was eleven, he not only received his Hogwarts letter, he woke to find two soulmarks on him. His parents had explained everything to him the day before, about gender and sexuality, polyamory and aromantics, platonic and romantic soulmates so he wouldn’t feel overwhelmed when he received his soulmark(s). One was a set of a dog’s pawprints that he felt he wasn’t imagining as muddy given the small flecks outside of the solid shape, and the other was a constellation, the thin black lines drawn between each burst of infinitesimal lines to represent stars, with one of the stars larger than the others. It was Canis Major, his parents told him, and the star Sirius was the biggest because it was the brightest star in the sky (which he would have remembered  _ eventually _ , he insisted, though they all knew he remembered nothing more than the shapes for astronomy). By the time he reached Hogwarts, he could trace the constellation where it lay on his leg without looking. It became something of an anchor for him, when he would get overstimulated, he would trace it with his index finger, imagining that the soulmark warmed unnaturally under his touch. His senses would narrow down to the warmth of the soulmark, and the feel of expensive fabric beneath his finger-- not that he knew what the cheap kind felt like. 

James was trying to slow his heart rate where he was sat alone in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, tracing Canis Major just above his knee. It wasn’t working as well as it normally did, and that in itself was enough to make him anxious even if he hadn’t been in an entirely new location surrounded by bustling strangers a few minutes ago. The soulmark felt… restless. Like it was waiting for something specific and didn’t want him too calm in case he missed it. James scowled at the mark even though it was hidden by his robes and fiddled with his new glasses that he still hadn’t quite gotten used to. 

He looked up when he heard someone enter and plop on the cushion opposite him with an aggravated sigh. 

“Annoying you already, am I?” James asked with a smirk. 

They laughed, shaking their head, wavy black hair getting in their face a bit. “No, just,” they waved their hand vaguely towards the platform and wrinkled their nose in distaste, “parents.” 

“You won’t miss them?” 

They rolled their eyes, and James noticed that they were almost shockingly grey. “Hardly.” 

James felt as if he knew who this person was, though they’d never met before, he was sure-- the number of other children he’d met could be counted on two hands. He held out a hand and said, “James Potter.” The way they held themselves was distinctly pureblood, as was the quality of their robes, which meant that James really should know what family they’re from without having to be told, but he couldn’t for the life of him think of which traits belonged to whom. 

They grinned, shaking his outstretched hand. “Sirius Black.” 

_ Oh! The Blacks _ . James wanted to kick himself; he’d actually  _ known _ that one, and if his bloody soulmark wasn’t acting up, he could’ve thought of it. Wait… “Sirius? As in…” 

“Heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. Yep.” 

Sirius didn’t seem to enjoy the admission, but James just shook his head absentmindedly. “No, not that. Like, as in the star? In Canis Major?” 

Sirius blinked, obviously taken by surprise in James’s total dismissal of his family, not that he was complaining. “Yes.” 

James grinned at him, and Sirius felt thrown. He knew everything there was to know about astronomy, and none of it was interesting enough to get  _ that _ reaction. “I think we’re soulmates.” 

* * *

**Year 5**

James walked in the dormitory while Sirius was changing (which wasn’t strange), and saw a large tattoo on his back that James couldn’t remember him getting (which  _ was _ strange). They were best mates, not to mention  _ soul _ mates, so James couldn’t fathom why Sirius would get one without telling him, hell, without him  _ there _ . “When’d you get that?” he asked, looking at the two antlers that framed his back, starting just above his pants and ending on his shoulder blades. 

“Hm?” Sirius said, turning his head. “Oh.” He craned his neck to look over his shoulder in an attempt to glance at his back. “It’s my other soulmark. I told you I had two.” 

“Yeah, I’ve just, I dunno, never seen this one before.” James reached out with his hand and started tracing it with his thumb. As he got further down, the antler was wider than he could cover with a single digit. Sirius shivered, and James paused. “Something wrong?” 

“Tickles.” It was a believable answer, so why did it sound like a lie? 

James moved his hand away and stepped back, reflexively heading to the toilet even though he didn’t think that was why he’d come back to their room. 

That night, James had a wet dream (not out of the ordinary, he was a teenager after all) about Sirius (again, not out of the ordinary), but in it Sirius wasn’t facing him (which most definitely  _ was _ out of the ordinary). As he wondered why, the soulmark on Sirius’s back suddenly caught his attention, the black standing out starkly against his already dark skin, drawing him in. Dream-James lent down and kissed the top of one of them, licking and kissing his way to the bottom of the mark and continuing to go even lower. When James woke, that was the only part of the dream he remembered. 

The pawprints on his hip felt like they were dancing on him, but he knew from past experience that if he looked they would be stationary. He rubbed at them absently as he thought over his dream. It had felt good as fuck all, but any other time when he imagined Sirius’s other soulmark, he didn’t pay it anymore attention than the rest of him. Why would he care? It wasn’t  _ his _ mark on Sirius. 

...Right? 

James glanced down at his hip, where his other mark was, and stared at it as if it held the answer. This one always felt unsettled after he dreamed about Sirius, never the other one, the soulmark that he  _ knew _ was Sirius’s. 

The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous his original thought seemed. It was probably trying to tell him that he should stop before he put them both through a hell of a lot of heartbreak. He kept repeating that to himself over the next few weeks but he listened to himself less and less as time passed. His crush on Sirius had turned into a full on fancy (though he had no idea when that had happened), and it didn’t feel like a secret he could keep in good conscience anymore. 

They’d just had an amazing win over Ravenclaw, and Sirius and James were the last ones to go to the locker room, the rest of the team already vacated and headed to the common room. 

“Hey Si?” James said as they unlaced their boots. Sirius made an inquisitive noise to show he’d heard him. “I fancy you.” 

Sirius looked at him, a small frown on his face. James shrugged in a ‘what can you do’ sort of way. “What are you planning on doing about it?” 

“Honestly I didn’t think past telling you,” James said with a wry smile. 

Sirius grinned at him and slid his boots off, sighing in relief. “I dunno Jamie. I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” 

James went back to taking off his kit as well. “Neither do I, but there’s no guarantee it would end badly.” Sirius gave him a look and James laughed. “It probably will, but, I figure, we’d be pretty shitty soulmates if we couldn’t get past something like that.” 

“True.” 

“We don’t have to try anything if you don’t want, but it just seemed wrong to not tell you.” 

Sirius hummed, thinking. “You’re handsome enough, I suppose.” 

“Enough?” he said mock indignantly. 

Sirius continued as if James hadn’t said anything. “Fit too. We get along, I wouldn’t have to get comfortable around you because I already  _ am _ … I guess we could try it.” 

James blinked owlishly at him. “Wait seriously? Oh shut it,” he added when Sirius grinned. “I- wow, I really didn’t expect you to say yes.” 

“I’m not promising anything,” Sirius cautioned. “If I kiss you and it’s shit I reserve all rights to dump you.” 

James shoved his shoulder. “Like you have any more experience, wanker.” 

“Precisely. So you don’t be shit at it that even someone as inexperienced as me can tell. If you make my first kiss terrible, I’ll never forgive you.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it Si,” James said, idly tracing Canis Major on his leg. 

Sirius stood, stretching, then looked at James expectantly. 

“...What?” 

“Well I’m not going to wait for my first kiss for forever am I?” 

“R-right now?” Stuttering was perfectly acceptable as far as James was concerned because the _fuck_ Sirius, you don’t spring that on a bloke. 

Sirius laughed, not unkindly. “Relax Jamie, it’s just me.” Sirius held out a hand and pulled him to his feet when he took it. He guided James’s hand to his upper arm where his soulmark was. “Soulmates, remember? I love you, and nothing’s going to change that.” He leaned forward so their noses were brushing against each other. “Even if we crash and burn.” 

“I don’t want to hurt you,” James whispered. 

“If I get hurt it won’t be your fault.” He paused, bringing a hand to cup James’s cheek. “Trust me?” 

James rolled his eyes because of  _ course _ he did, how could Sirius think for an instant that he didn’t. 

Sirius huffed a small laugh and leaned the rest of the way in, and  _ gods _ James couldn’t believe this was happening. James’s lips were chapped but somehow Sirius’s weren’t, and he felt a little guilty for scratching him. Sirius didn’t seem to mind though, pressing his lips more firmly on James’s until all he could think was  _ warm _ and  _ Sirius _ . 

By the time they parted, James could tell his face was flushed and he wondered when the hell that happened. He almost got embarrassed by his reaction until he saw that Sirius was in the same state. He cleared his throat so his voice wouldn’t come out a squeak. “Verdict?” 

“I’d take you home.” 

“We live in the same place.” 

“That’s beside the point,” Sirius smirked, kissing him again. 

“So are we dating now?” James asked as they headed to the showers several minutes later, both sporting sore lips. 

“Haven’t been on a date, have we?” 

“Don’t be a prat,” James said without heat. 

“I dunno. I guess.” 

James frowned, turning on the shower head and only remembering after he stepped in that he’d forgotten to take his glasses off. With a muted curse, he ripped them off and tossed them on the towel. “You guess?” 

“Why am I the only one making decisions here?” 

“Because I told you I fancied you which means that  _ obviously _ I want to go on dates and hold hands and all that sappy rot. All  _ you  _ said was that you were comfortable around me, which we both already knew.” 

Sirius was quiet for a minute. “I don’t have all the answers James. I was confused enough about how I felt about you and all of a sudden you’re saying you fancy me and asking if I want to give it a shot, but I’d thought that we could never try that so…” 

“You can think about it, I didn’t mean to push you into anything.” 

“Merlin Jamie,” Sirius said with a choked laugh. “Don’t sound like that. It’s just a lot to process when I was convinced kissing you would fuck everything up for us.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah. Give me some time to sort it all in my head, and then…” 

He hesitated and James picked it up so they wouldn’t have to end on an awkward note. “And then we decide the fate of our lives,” he said dramatically. 

Sirius snorted. “Sure James, you do that.” 

“I will, thank you.” 

The earliest James was expecting an answer was after dinner the next day, but before the celebration was even in full swing, Sirius wrapped an arm around his waist and whispered, “Want a boyfriend?” 

“I thought you wanted time?” James asked but put his arm around Sirius all the same. There was no one around paying attention, giving them some semblance of privacy. 

“And I had time. Twenty minutes was more than enough.” 

“Was it now,” James said skeptically. 

Sirius rolled his eyes. “We both knew what I’d choose, I just had to come to terms with it. It’s not every day a bloke gets everything he wants.” 

“Ooo I’m everything, am I?” 

“You’ve always been everything, pretending otherwise is daft,” Sirius said, then kissed him. 

James smiled against his mouth, pulling back just enough to speak. “Your other soulmate might take offense to that.” 

“The fuck do I care, I haven’t met them yet.” Then Sirius kissed him again, and this time people saw them. 

* * *

James was exhausted, detention and homework and Quidditch practice and preparing for becoming an animagus all weighing down on him as he slumped against Sirius and winced at the bright light of dawn in the common room. He was convinced that he’d gotten no more than an hour of sleep the night before, but Sirius looked well rested despite doing almost all the same things. 

He took off James’s glasses and put a hand on his knee, blanketing the soulmark with warmth and soothing James. “Why don’t you skive today? For at least Potions.” He spoke lowly and kissed James’s temple. 

“Mm-mm. Hafta,” James stopped to yawn and buried his face in Sirius’s chest, not continuing his objection. 

Sirius chuckled, then slowly stood, bringing James up with him. “C’mon Jamie, we’re supposed to finish the transformation tonight and we can’t do that with you dead on your feet.” Sirius nicked his glasses from the table where he’d set them and led James back up the stairs to their bed, James blinking blearily at him as if he thought he should be protesting but didn’t know why. 

Sirius took off his shoes and tucked him in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips with a whispered, “Sleep well,” before he left for classes. James had fragmented dreams of running through a forest as something not human, a Grim by his side. He woke to the alarm Sirius had set for him, not feeling frightened despite the portent, instead feeling comforted, like he did when he and Sirius were alone together. 

He pulled his shoes on and raced to lunch, eager to both see Sirius again and eat something since he’d missed breakfast. He didn’t think about his dream until that night when they were in an abandoned section of Hogwarts, about to start what was hopefully the last session of practice before becoming animagi. 

“I had a dream this morning that I was running by a Grim.” 

“A Grim? Are y-y-you sure, that’s p-pretty out there,” Peter said. “Maybe it was just a b-big black dog.” 

“It looked pretty huge,” James shrugged. 

“Was it chasing you?” Sirius asked worriedly. 

He shook his head. “No it wasn’t like that. It was like we were friends or summat. I felt safe with them.” 

“Could it be-be your animagus?” Peter asked. “I c-can’t see you as a dog, but-t.” He shrugged. 

“Neither can I,” Sirius agreed. “It’s not like we know anything about what your animal is though.” 

“Maybe it’s a-a natural f-friend to Grims?” Peter ventured. 

“Who knows. Let’s do this, Morgana knows we’ve been working on it long enough,” James said, changing the subject. Next to nothing was known about both Grims and the form witches and wizards took as animagi-- talking about his dream all night long would get them nowhere. 

They spread out and each drank their portion of the potion. After thirty minutes, James could feel a fog drift over his human mind and his magic stand out clearer. “I think it’s working,” he said quietly. Peter and Sirius both agreed. 

Not five minutes later, James heard pops sound at the same time and opened his eyes. Peter and Sirius were gone; in their places were a rat and- a Grim. Without investigating further, James knew it was the one from his dream. Without thinking to look down at what he was, he stepped towards him, the sharp  _ tick _ on the stone suggesting that he had hooves. 

Sirius had been busy examining his canine body, but at James’s movement, he looked up. Even though Sirius was a dog, James could still read his emotions: shock. Hesitantly leaning back, James tilted his head and for the first time felt the extra weight there. He moved his head this way and that, but he couldn’t see what it was. He huffed in frustration and it came out as a snort.  _ What the fuck? _

Sirius squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated until he popped back into a human. “Hey Pete?” He looked towards the rat. “Could you give us a minute? James, don’t turn back yet.” 

James hesitantly nodded, feeling a little top heavy because of whatever was on his head. Horns, maybe? Godric and Salazar was he a goat? Oh sure, Sirius gets to be a Grim, Peter gets to be a rat, but he’s stuck with a bloody  _ goat _ . 

Peter changed back, cheeks flushed and stutter more pronounced from excitement. “Y-yeah, I-I’ll go t-tell Rem.” 

Sirius drew his wand and conjured a large mirror, waving James forward. If he was a goat, he was going to scream. He braced himself, but froze when he saw his reflection. Instead of being a goat ( _ a stupid fucking goat _ , he added mentally), he was a stag. Beautiful and majestic, if he did say so himself, but that wasn’t the point. Antlers weighing his head down, antlers just like the ones on Sirius’s back. 

He transformed back with a little difficulty that he knew would dissipate with practice, turning to look at Sirius immediately. “Is that even possible?” 

“Must be, cause this,” Sirius reached under James’s shirt and pressed the tips of his fingers to the soulmark on James’s hip, “is me too.” 

James reached down and held Sirius’s hand firm against him. “This is completely unprecedented,” he said breathlessly. 

“So are fifteen year old animagi,” he returned with a smirk. “I’m glad, though. With us being together… I was worried we were romantic soulmates but I didn’t want to lose you as my platonic soulmate.” 

“And now you don’t have to,” James said with a large grin. 

“Now we don’t have to lose each other at all.” Sirius tangled his other hand in James’s hair and pulled him in for a messy kiss. When they parted, breathing heavy, Sirius whispered, “I knew you were everything to me.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr [@siriuslystarbucks](http://siriuslystarbucks.tumblr.com/)


End file.
